We reveal our top five favorite easter eggs in Mad Cave Studios’ Digital Lizards of Doom Vol. 1, including Wizard of Oz, Samurai Jack, and more!
The delightful world of Digital Lizards of Doom is back with a new volume of adventures from Mad Cave Studios and Papercutz, but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of fun still to be had in Volume 1. More fun is right around the corner with Digital Lizards of Doom Vol. 2, which hits stores on June 25th, but Vol. 1 is in stores right now, and those who dive in will find a bevy of pop culture and comic Easter Eggs throughout. The talented team of Gabriel Valentin, Ernie Najera, Margo Prodan and Dan Brozo have woven in all sorts of hidden geekery throughout Vol. 1, including nods to Wizard of Oz, Alien, Dune, The Legend of Zelda, and more, and you can check out our five favorite Easter Eggs from Digital Lizards of Doom Vol. 1 below.
1. Wizard of Oz
It doesn’t get much more iconic than Wizard of Oz, and the 1939 film is the perfect place to start our Easter Egg journey. The book follows a similar pattern to Dorothy’s adventure in the film, which starts out in black and white and then shifts into full color when she finds herself in Oz. Similarly, the Digital Lizards of Doom moves from black and white artwork to the world of full color when things shift to another dimension, and taking that well past coincidence is the dialogue. Dorothy then says “Toto…I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”, and in DLoD the next line is “I have a feeling you’re not on earth anymore.”
2. Alien and Dune
For our next set of Easter Eggs, it’s all about Pineapple Pete’s slick gaming room, where he tells us to choose a character as he sets up the first level of our video game adventure. If you glance above him, you will find homages to two beloved properties. The poster on the left is a tribute to Ridley Scott’s Alien film, while the poster on the right is a tribute to Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. There’s actually more connections than just the posters themselves though, as Dizzy Doom’s arc and story is heading in a similar direction to Dune and Alien’s lead heroes.
3. Samurai Jack
Pineapple Pete has more tricks up his sleeve, including one that homages the beloved and legendary Samurai Jack. As Pete explains the origins of the DLoD universe, he says “Long ago in a distant land…I, Pineapple Pete, pineapple demon of Darkness.” Fans of Samurai Jack will notice that his statement is very similar to how the villainous Aku introduces himself in every episode, where he says “Long ago in a distant land…I, Aku the shapeshifting master of darkness…” This also showcases the relationship between the main villain and the main hero, so it’s quite a bit more than just a fun nod to the source material.
4. The Legend of Zelda
One of the true timeless franchises in gaming is The Legend of Zelda, and there is a fun Zelda-styled moment in Digital Lizards of Doom Vol. 1, though you might have missed it. In one scene, Dana Deathly is saying they will need the help of Fat Cat Roger to make this victory happen, and as he tries to come to terms with this predicament, Deathly says “It’s dangerous to go alone”. That phrase will be familiar to fans of the Zelda franchise, and it first showed up in Legend of Zelda on NES in 1986. It’s since become a well-known phrase in the series, and it also represents Zelda’s move from the safety of his immediate location and village to the lively but dangerous world that lies beyond his home, and that moment and shift can be found in Dizzy Doom’s story as well.
William Shakespeare
For our final Easter Egg, we move to the realm of real-life history, with a host of nods to the literary icon William Shakespeare. In the book, fans are introduced to the cyborg cat pirate Captain Fat Rogers, but they are also introduced to Fat Rogers’ first mate Shakey Spears. Spears is connected to Shakespeare in several ways, including the fact that he is a Dryad, a favorite of Shakespeare’s. Shakey’s clothes are also an ode to Shakespeare, but the most apparent homage is Shakey’s exclusive use of poetic verse in his dialogue. You can check out the image above, you can find the official description for Digital Lizards of Doom below.
“When a magical trickster secretly traps an entire universe inside a video game world, a young warrior named Dizzy Doom must search for answers to unravel the mystery. But as villains from another galaxy come to attack his kingdom, Dizzy is forced to make an unlikely alliance with a mysterious ninja and cyborg cat pirate. Dizzy’s ideology will be tested, as he comes to realize everything is not always as it seems.”
Digital Lizards of Doom Vol. 1: Dizzy Doom is in stores now. Digital Lizards of Doom Vol. 2: Commander E.K.O. is in stores on June 25th.
Are you excited for more Digital Lizards of Doom? You can talk all things comics and graphic novels with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!
